ANI
07 Jul 2025, 16:34 GMT+10
Birmingham [UK], July 7 (ANI): Following some promising signs at Leeds despite a five-wicket loss, the massive ceiling and unreal potential of Indian cricket's 'Gill era' was at full display at Birmingham as Team India snapped their ages-old winless streak at Edgbaston against England with a 336-run win, after seven painful losses and a draw.
Several records were shattered by Shubman Gill himself, while the pace duo of Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep made the new ball do its magic on a surface that looked absolutely lifeless for bowlers after the Dukes' ball got older and softer. A Harry Brook-Jamie Smith triple-century partnership was a counterattack that attempted to thwart India's efforts of making amends for poor bowling at Leeds, but incredible character, resilience and skill-set was on full display as after a Gill, Rishabh Pant-powered blitz in the second innings, the pace attack managed to replicate the 'Virat Kohli era' magic on a pitch that seemed to offer very little, in the absence of pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah.
Without the presence of pace pack leader Bumrah and the legendary duo of 'Ro-Ko' (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli), a new-look India has levelled the series and delivered a befitting reply to critics doubting if the side was even worth touring to England, one of the toughest nations to tour. The Ben Stokes, Brendon McCullum-led 'Bazball' school of cricket faced a dilemma: Whether to bravely go for a 608-run chase or swallow their pride and settle for a rare draw. England could not do either of those, struggling to balance their defensive and attacking sides of the game and fell flat on their faces with a massive blot on their resume.
After the match, here is a deep dive into the performances of the win's biggest architects and their records:
-Captain Gill gives a bittersweet 'Deja vu'.
With two record-breaking innings of 269 and 161, skipper Gill tore into the record books like no other Indian skipper, not even his idol Virat. A major upgradation was carried out in Indian cricket history as Gill reshaped the narrative surrounding him with each stroke. 'Giving away his solid starts', 'Poor stats in overseas', 'Gill does not have as much aura as Virat', it just took a couple of knocks to wipe these jibes out, at least for this series.
With 430 runs across both innings, Gill has the second-highest aggregate of runs in a single Test, behind England's Graham Gooch, who had an output of 456 runs after scoring 333 and 123 against India at Lord's back in 1990. He also became the second batter to register 150-plus scores in both innings of a Test after Allan Border (150* & 153) against Pakistan in Lahore in 1980. Gill's outing is also the first instance of a 250-plus and 150-plus score in a Test by a batter.
He has become only second Indian after Gavaskar to hit a double ton and century in the same Test, scoring 124 and 220 against West Indies at Port of Spain in 1971. Other batters having achieved this feat include Australia's KD Walters, West Indies RG Lowe, Australia's Greg Chappell, England's Gooch, WI icon Lara, Sri Lanka's Sangakkara and Australia's Marnus Labuschagne.
He has also outdone ex-skipper and legendary batter Virat Kohli (243 and 50) to have the highest aggregate by an Indian captain in a Test match. Virat's effort came against Sri Lanka at his home stadium, Arun Jaitley Stadium, back in December 2017.
Gill is the second Asian batter with 350-plus aggregate in a Test outside the subcontinent after Pakistan's Hanif Mohammad (354: 17 and 337) at Bridgetown in 1958.'
The youngster is also the third Asian batter to have a 300-plus run aggregate in a Test taking place in South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia (SENA) countries after Rahul Dravid (305) and Sachin Tendulkar (301) did that in Adelaide and Sydney, respectively in 2003-04.
He is also the third Indian captain to have a 100-plus score in both innings of the Test, besides Gavaskar (against West Indies in Kolkata, 1978), Virat (against Sri Lanka in 2017). Gill is the second player to record three hundred in his first two Tests as captain after Virat Kohli.
He is only the sixth Indian to score a 250-plus score in Tests, joining the elite company of Virender Sehwag, who did it four times, VVS Laxman, Rahul Dravid, Karun Nair and Virat Kohli. Gill is the first Indian to do so outside of the Indian subcontinent; the previous best was Sachin's masterclass of 241* against Australia at Sydney in 2004.
He joined Rahul Dravid (217 at The Oval in 2002) and Sunil Gavaskar (221 at The Oval in 1979) to become the third player to score a double ton for India in England against England in Tests.
Gill became the first-ever Indian captain to reach the double ton against England in England, outdoing Mohammad Azharuddin's 179 at Old Trafford in 1990.
Also, with a quick flurry of boundaries after the milestone, he leapfrogged past legendary Sunil Gavaskar's 221 at The Oval in 1979 to have the highest-ever individual score by an Indian in England.
Gill joined the elite company of Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, and Rohit Sharma to become the fourth Indian with a century in Tests and ODIs both.
The youngster also surpassed Kohli's 254* against South Africa in 2019 to have the highest score ever by an Indian captain. Gill also became the third Indian captain with a 150-plus Test score before turning 26, after Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi (twice) and Sachin Tendulkar.
This is also the second instance of a double ton by an Indian skipper overseas, nine years after Virat Kohli's 200 against West Indies back in 2016 at North Sound.
The 25-year-old strokeplayer also became the first Asian captain with a double century in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA), the previous best score being 193 by Sri Lanka's Tillakaratne Dilshan at Lord's in 2011.
He is the second-youngest Indian captain to score a Test double ton at the age of 25 years and 298 days, below Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi against England in Delhi back in 1964 at the age of 23 years and 39 days.
Also, there have been 11 double centuries hit by captains in England, four from the hosts and seven others from visiting teams. It is only South African legend Graeme Smith, who reached the milestone at a younger age than Gill, with knocks of 277 and 259 in back-to-back Tests at Edgbaston and Lord's in 2003, the first of these coming at an age of 22 years and 175 days.
It took Gill only three innings as a captain to reach his double ton, the joint-quickest for India, alongside Sunil Gavaskar (205 vs WI, Wankhede, 1978).
After this seemingly endless re-writing of batting records, Gill also became the youngest Indian captain to win a Test overseas; the previous youngest was Sunil Gavaskar (26y 202d) vs NZ in Auckland in 1976.
This 336-run win is also India's biggest win away from home, outdoing their 318-run win over West Indies at North Sound back in 2016, while they defended a total of 419.
MRF bat in hand, captaincy armband, a dashing strokeplayer with a superstar status, breaking records in England. A script we have seen it before, Virat Kohli. It is a much powerful sequel with a change in main character, who also happened to be an underdog just like his idol was at one point.
-Rishabh Pant: India's main man for SENA, climbing up the echelons of greats
At this point, it is safe to say Pant is India's greatest Test wicketkeeper-batter, having surpassed MS Dhoni. After managing 25 runs in the first innings, Pant delivered an entertaining, counter-attacking and crucial 65 in 58 balls, with eight fours and three sixes in the second. This made him the first-ever Asian wicketkeeper-batter to reach 2,000 Test runs in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) countries, a hallmark of his adaptability to tough conditions. Not satiated with being counted amongst Indian greats, Pant is challenging the global greats as well.
In this series, Pant is the third-highest run-getter, with 342 runs in four innings at an average of 85.00 and a strike rate of 81.81, with two centuries and a fifty. His best score is 134.
-Yashasvi Jaiswal: Opener's stocks continue to rise in overseas conditions
Before this series, much was expected from Jaiswal after a successful Border-Gavaskar Trophy and an incredible home season. With a century on his debut in England at Leeds and valuable knocks of 87 and 28 at Birmingham, he is truly justifying his hype.
Jaiswal became the fastest Indian to reach 2,000 Test runs, joining legends like Rahul Dravid and Virender Sehwag, who did so in 40 innings. In 21 Tests and 40 innings, he has 2,018 runs at an average of 53.10, with five centuries and 11 fifties, with a best score of 214*. In this series so far, he has 220 runs in two Tests at an average of 55.00, with a century and fifty each and best score of 101.
-Mohammed Siraj bamboozles England with his 'Miyan Magic'
Siraj was destructive in this Test, with a spell of 6/70 in the first innings that gave Team India a 180-run lead they could build on. This brilliant spell, carried out largely with the new ball, helped him leapfrog Jasprit Bumrah (four times) to have the most instances of four or more wickets in an innings in England, with a total of five such instances.
Bumrah has 42 wickets in 10 Tests in England, and this workhorse of a bowler is slowly catching up with his 'Game-changer Jassi bhai', with 32 wickets in eight matches at an average of 33.81, with a six-wicket haul and four four-wicket hauls to his name.
-Akash Deep's historic ten-for in the face of adversity
Heading back into the side after an injury lay-off and a poor Indian Premier League (IPL), Akash Deep adapted to English conditions like fish to water, becoming only second Indian to take a ten-wicket haul in a match in this country after Chetan Sharma back in 1986. In fact, his spell of 10/187 (4/88 in the first innings and 6/99 in the second) is the best-ever spell by an Indian in England. Akash's seam movement and new-ball magic sucked the life out of England's top-order, leaving them as helpless as a headless chicken without their most productive batters, Ben Duckett and Joe Root.
Following the match, he revealed his elder sister's cancer diagnosis and how he played this game just to put a smile on her face.
'The biggest thing is that I have not told anyone yet. My elder sister has been suffering from cancer for the last 2 months. She is stable now. She is fine. She will be the happiest. She has been going through this mentally for the last 2 months. She will be the happiest. I was playing this match for her. I have to make her happy for this match,' Akash Deep said while talking to batter Cheteshwar Pujara, now on broadcasting duties. (ANI)
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